For All Pilates Enthusiasts
Get More From Every Pilates Class You Take...
Every Time You Practice
You take group classes at a studio.
You practice at home on your own.
But when there isn’t a teacher standing right beside you…
How do you know that you are doing it right?
Observe → Recognize → Correct
I created this course: to give you access to the fundamental movement education I teach at my studio every day - so you can begin developing the knowledge and awareness to guide yourself, wherever you practice Pilates.
Imagine knowing exactly what to look for in every exercise you perform.
After completing this course, you will be able to recognize when your form is not quite right, and make corrections with confidence.
Teach Yourself the Essential Skills that Every Pilates Exercise is built on.
Turn Every Exercise Into Meaningful Movement
The biggest breakthroughs in Pilates don't come from learning more exercises.
They come from understanding the fundamental building blocks within the exercises you are already doing- and learning how to recognize them in your own body.
Do you know how to position your pelvis to support your lower back?
Do you know how to release tension in your neck and build strength to hold your head up?
What does keeping the pelvis and shoulders stable actually mean for your body, and how do you do that while you are moving?
These are the skills that change how you practice.
Because it's not enough to know what an exercise should look like.
You want to learn what it should feel like in your own body.
Video Lessons You Can Come Back To As Often As You Want
During concise, focused lessons - most just 2 - 4 minutes long - you'll learn and practice the essential skills that help you move with greater control, confidence, and ease.
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Using breath so movement feels less straining.
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Supporting the lower back while moving.
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Maintaing alignment of the pelvis and spine.
- Organizing the shoulder girdle for strong neck and shoulders.
These skills are not limited to one particular exercise or piece of equipment.
Whether you are practicing on the Mat, Reformer, Cadillac/Tower, Chair, Ped-O-Pull, or Barrels, you will be able to perform all the exercises more effectively and safely.
Because knowing the exercise is only part of practicing Pilates well. You also need to know how to support your body so that movement feels better, not only during Pilates, but in everyday life.
Put It All Into Practice
Throughout the course, you will have opportunities to practice what you are learning, by following along with me as I lead you through a series of Mat exercises. With detailed explanation, and visual cues that I use during this lesson, you will be able to integrate into your body what you are learning in the course.
You will experience right away how the essential movement skills you've been practicing- breathing, abdominal support, pelvic stability, spinal alignment, shoulder stability, work together inside actual Pilates exercises.
The Mat exercises are the demonstration. The movement skills are the lesson.
Once you can recognize these skills in action, you can begin applying that same understanding to the Pilates you already practice - on the Mat, in a Reformer class, or on all other Pilates equipment.
The exercises change. The essential skills remain.
This Course Will Teach You...
- How to breathe properly while moving for better coordination and endurance
- How to activate deep abdominal muscles to elongate and decompress your spine
- How to prevent lower back strain and move safely in any class
- How to reduce neck and shoulder tension during movements
- How to improve posture, balance, and body awareness in every day life
Are you ready to learn the Essential Movement Skills?
Start Your Essential Movement Skills Course“The videos are just the right length for me to stay focused and actually get the most out of them. I feel like I understand what I'm doing at the studio so much better because of what I learned in this course — and I love that I can pause and rewatch whenever I need to.”
Andrea K
If you really want to get everything you can out of your Pilates classes
You don't need more exercises. You need to know what to look for while you're doing the exercises you already practice.
This course will teach you how to spot when something isn't quite right and give you tools to correct it.
Throughout the course, you'll practice form-focused exercises that break each movement skill down. Step-by-step instruction will help you learn and practice these skills individually, so you become better equipped to use them during your Pilates workouts - whether you are in a studio or practicing at home.
You'll walk into a class or roll out your mat at home, with greater confidence, knowing you are building your body just as Joseph Pilates intended -strong, aligned, and, in his words, “free of nervous tension.”
This Course Isn't About "More Exercises"
These are new skills you are learning so they take time and consistent practice to develop.
You don't master pelvic stability or breathing simply by understanding the explanation once. You learn by noticing, trying out, practicing, and returning to the lesson as often as you want until the new skill becomes more familiar to your own body.
That's exactly why each lesson is short, focused, and easy to revisit.
You can return to any lesson as often as you need to and review a concept, study it more carefully, practice it again, or refresh your memory before your next Pilates session.
There's no pressure to learn everything at once. The course is yours to return to as your understanding deepens and your practice progresses.
When you finish this course
You won't simply move on to the next thing.
You'll begin looking at every Pilates exercise a little differently.
You'll start recognizing when your pelvis is stable - and when it isn't.
You'll notice when your shoulders and neck are doing more work than they need to.
You'll better understand how your breathing influences your movement.
You'll begin connecting what you've learned to the exercises you already practice.
And you'll begin to feel the difference in your own body.
An exercise you've done many times may suddenly feel different because you are using your body differently. You may notice where you are creating unnecessary tension or strain, where your body needs more support, and how a small adjustment can correct the quality of the entire exercise.
Your effort becomes more purposeful because you better understand where that effort should go.
The choreography doesn't change.
Your understanding of it does.
And as your understanding changes, so does the way the exercise feels in your body.
"Study carefully. Do not sacrifice knowledge to speed in building your solid exercises regime on the foundation of Contrology."
Joseph H. Pilates
Why Learn From Me?
My name is Joanna Telacka
Pilates is my way of life - and I want to share it with you so it can become yours too!
I’ve been teaching Joseph Pilates’ traditional method of corrective movement - Classical Pilates - for over 25 years at my studio, Harmonious Pilates, first in Roslyn and now in Great Neck, NY.
I’m a Nationally Certified Pilates Teacher (NCPT) and a third-generation teacher, having studied at The Pilates Center in Boulder, CO. I trained under Amy Taylor Alpers and Rachel Taylor Segel who were themselves taught by Romana Krzyzanowska, one of Joseph Pilates’ original students.
What Years of Teaching Pilates Has Taught Me
I've spent thousands of hours observing bodies move. My approach to teaching the Pilates method is to teach the body in front of me. See it move, correct faulty movement patterns, teaching the new skills of how to aligne the body and move it through the exercises to promote muscle strength and flexibility, spine elongation and decompression, as well as joint stability and mobility.
I've also mentored and continue mentoring Pilates teachers in developing the skills required to teach the method to with greater understanding and precision.
And the longer I teach, the more strongly I believe this:
The foundation of a healthy, independent life is the ability to move well.
The movement skills I teach in this course aren't concepts I developed simply for an online program. They are the same principles I use every day with my clients- the fundamentals I return to again and again when helping someone understand an exercise, improve the way they move, or make a meaningful correction.
Breathing. Abdominal support. Three positions of the pelvis. Pelvic stability. Spinal alignment. Shoulder stability. Understanding what your body is doing while it moves.
These are the building blocks.
During one-on-one instruction, I can teach these skills while watching the person in front of me. I can help them notice what's happening in their own body and guide them toward a better choice.
But Pilates is practiced very differently today. You may take group classes because that's what your studio offers or simply because you enjoy them. You may practice at home because it's convenient, because there isn't a studio nearby, or because that's how you prefer to exercise.
Whatever the reason, when you practice without individual instruction, there isn't someone there to observe the details of how your body is moving and help you understand what to adjust.
That's why I created this course: to give you access to the fundamental movement education I teach at my studio every day - so you can begin developing the knowledge and awareness to guide yourself, wherever you practice Pilates.
Because progressing in Pilates isn't only about learning more exercises. It's about developing the body awareness to understand how you are performing them- and eventually carrying that awareness into the way you move through everyday life.
I continue to practice Pilates myself, and that practice continues to deepen my own body awareness and understanding of movement.
Over the years, Pilates has made me physically stronger and mentally sharper. It has supported everything I love to do—from skiing, swimming, cycling, and running to completing six Ironman competitions and two marathons.
Pilates has shaped the way I move and the way I live.
To me, it's more than exercise. It's a practice for life.
And that's the understanding I want to pass on to you.
Ready to transform how you experience Pilates?
Join What Pilates Is: The Essential Skills, and learn how to move better, be aware of your body and how to control it, to get stronger - exactly what Joseph Pilates intended for his method to accomplish.
Understand Your Movement - Own Your Foundation for Life
Price: $97.00
At $97, the cost of this course is comparable to one private Pilates lesson - but the differece is thatyou can return to these focused lessons whenever you need clarification, practice, or a reminder of how to support your body as you move.
